“It was clear that the sender knew more about the crime than we did."
A former college principal in India received a life sentence for sending a parcel bomb that killed a newlywed man and his great aunt in 2018.
Punjilal Meher was found guilty of murder, attempted murder and use of explosives in a case that shocked India.
The bomb was disguised as a wedding gift and delivered to the home of 26-year-old software engineer Soumya Sekhar Sahu.
It exploded when the parcel was opened, killing Soumya and his 85-year-old great aunt, Jemamani Sahu.
His wife Reema, then 22, who opened the package, survived with serious burns, a punctured eardrum and long-term trauma.
The couple had been married for just five days and were preparing lunch at home in Patnagarh, a town in Odisha, when the parcel arrived.
It was addressed to Soumya and appeared to be from Raipur, Chhattisgarh.
Police launched a lengthy investigation but initially found no strong leads. They interrogated more than 100 people and examined thousands of phone records.
One early suspect had made a threatening call after Reema’s engagement, but no evidence linked him to the crime.
The breakthrough came in April 2018 when an anonymous letter arrived at the local police station.
It stated that the bomb had been sent under the name “SK Sinha” and hinted at motives of betrayal and money. The letter claimed three men had carried out the attack and were now out of reach. It also urged police to stop harassing innocent people.
Arun Bothra, then head of Odisha’s crime branch, said:
“It was clear that the sender knew more about the crime than we did.
“By writing that it was being sent by a messenger, he wanted to tell us that the crime was not the work of a local man.
“He wanted to tell us that the plot was executed by three people. He wanted to be taken seriously, so he was kind of blowing his fake cover by pointing out a mistake we had made.”
Until that point, investigators had believed the name on the parcel was “SK Sharma”.
But the handwriting had been misread — the script looked more like “Sinha”, just as the letter claimed. That small correction led police to believe the letter writer could be the person who sent the bomb.
Soumya’s mother, a college lecturer, told police she recognised the language and style of the letter. It resembled that of a former colleague, Punjilal Meher, who had recently been replaced by her as principal of their college.
Meher had not been a serious suspect up to that point. Police had previously dismissed the idea of workplace rivalry.
But with the new evidence, Meher was brought in for questioning. He initially claimed he had been forced to deliver the letter under threat. Police allege he later confessed.
According to investigators, the former principal had hoarded firecrackers during Diwali, extracted the gunpowder, and built a crude but deadly explosive device.
He then travelled to Raipur to send the parcel under a false name, using a courier service without CCTV.
To create an alibi, he allegedly left his phone at home and avoided purchasing train tickets to stay off surveillance systems.
The parcel travelled over 650km by road, passing through several locations before reaching Patnagarh.
Police said the bomb was rigged to detonate upon opening, and wrapped in jute thread to make it look like a traditional gift.
In a move that further shocked the victims’ family, Meher had reportedly attended both the wedding and the funeral. His calm appearance at both events drew no suspicion at the time.
During the trial, the court acknowledged the prosecution’s argument that the crime was “heinous”.
However, it stopped short of awarding the death penalty, ruling it was not a “rarest of the rare” case. Meher was sentenced to life imprisonment.
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